Italian Technical Death Metallers Hour of Penance return with their ninth full-length record Devotion. I have been a fan of Hour of Penance since hearing their second full-length record Pageantry for Martyrs.

Devotion gets kicked off with “Devotion of Tyranny” which reminds me a lot of their third album The Vile Conception. The guitar work of Giulio Moschini and Vocalist Paolo Pieri is quite relentless and locked in throughout the album. They mixed and mastered Devotion at Hertz Studio in Poland (Vader, Decapitated, Behemoth). “Parasitic Chain of Command” comes up next and the drum fills of Giacomo Torti are clean and tasty. “Birthright Abolished” has a bit of a Hate Eternal vibe with the frantic string skipping into grinded octaves.

“Breathe the Dust of the Dead” reminds me of a bit of Nile in an effective way. A lot of the tracks on Devotion have slight black metal riff tinges akin to Behemoth or Belphegor. “The Mortality of Warfare” has one of the best breakdowns on the album. Devotion flows well. Most of the tracks are right around three to four minutes. “The Ravenous Heralds” is my favorite track on the album. It has a nice creepy build before going at ludicrous speed.

“A Desert Called Peace” is another one of my favorite tracks and has a bit of an Immolation vibe. “Spiraling into Decline” is a ferocious way to finish which has been a quick album. It is a wonderful year for death metal when you have both Hour of Penance and Hideous Divinity cranking out fantastic slabs of darkened technical death metal.

This effort is my favorite from Hour of Penance since The Vile Conception. It is cool to hear how Hour of Penance’s songwriting has matured over the years. This one might be their best. These guys waste zero time delivering some fantastic songs. Add this one to your busy 2024 listening queue.

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